13th October 2008
By Peter Campbell
Just two weeks after being dismasted, Colin Goldrick and his rather short-handed crew sailed Allegretto to a fine handicap win in the Squadron’s Division 2 on Saturday.
“We didn’t finish the repair work on the boat until about noon on Saturday and then had to sail her with just three of us,” Goldrick said today. “It was OK until the wind freshened; it was a bit hairy gybing…I was steering with my leg while handling the brace and mainsheet.”
Allegretto is a light displacement Spider 28, originally designed as a trailer-sailer and is normally sailed by a crew of five. She carries a sweptback spreader rig with a distinctive square top mainsail.
Goldrick spent about 18 months modifying the boat, but after some success in the Squadron’s winter racing decided to enter Allegretto for the summer pointscore.
“Division 2 is building up to a competitive fleet and nearing the Manly mark there were four of us racing boat for boat in the freshening nor’easter,” added Goldrick.
Explaining the dismasting two weeks ago, he said Allegretto had been “running downwind under spinnaker at 10 knots when we launched into the wake of a cruising boat…the hull stopped but the mast didn’t.”
Allegretto won Saturday’s Division 2 from Gondwana (Peter Edwards) and Arcturus II (Peter Davenport). Rush (Ray Simmonds) was a DNF after breaking her headsail halyard.
The spring pointscore fleet is increasing every week with 82 boats on the water last Saturday in the handicap divisions and one design classes. After a delayed start waiting for the breeze, a fine nor’easter swept up the harbour giving the fleet a great sail in 10-15 knots of breeze.
Nineteen boats turned out for the second club championship race for the Etchells, first place going to Fifteen (David Clark & Andrew Smith) while the Dragons and the Ynglings enjoyed three excellent races in a Mini Regatta.
In the Dragons, former Olympian Carl Ryves scored three successive wins in Sidewinder while in the Ynglings Chris Harper notched up two firsts and a third in Shining Star. Pourquoi (Hamish Jarrett) won the third race of the regatta after a 3rd and a 2nd in the earlier races.
Chris Oxenbould, retired Rear Admiral, former head of NSW Maritime and one-time Laser dinghy sailor, is obviously enjoying sailing his keelboat, Freycinet, sailing her to a comfortable win in the opening race for Squadron Twilights last Friday evening.
Freycinet won Division 1 with a fleet of near 60 boats enjoying a perfect spring evening on the harbour and later, back at the Squadron. Division 2 saw a win for busy sailors John & Judy Waring in alouette while Division 3 went to Rumbalara (Anthony Palfreyman).
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